88% (2) The Narrow Margin 71 min, Not Rated, [Film-Noir, Thriller] [Richard Fleischer] [16 Aug 1952]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 77%, Rotten Tomatoes: 100%, External Reviews
Actors: Charles McGraw, Gordon Gebert, Jacqueline White, Marie Windsor
Writer: Earl Felton (screen play), Martin Goldsmith (story), Jack Leonard (story)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: When a mobster's wife decides to testify against his evil deeds, she goes under cover to avoid being killed. Now that he's coming to trial, she has to be escorted across country by train in order to testify. Cop Walter Brown and his partner are assigned the task, but the mob are on their trail.
Rotten Tomatoes: The Narrow Margin is generally considered a "model" B picture; some film buffs go farther than that, labelling this 1952 RKO suspenser as the best low-budget studio production ever made. Nail-hard detective Walter Brown (Charles McGraw) is assigned to protect gangster's widow Mrs. Neall (Marie Windsor) as she rides the train from Chicago to LA, en route to testifying at a grand jury. There's no love lost between the ill-tempered Neall and Brown, especially since Brown's partner (Don Beddoe) was killed by mobsters while shielding Neall from harm. On the train, Brown makes the acquaintance of a likeable woman (Jacqueline White) and her playful young son. He also comes in contact with a rather secretive fat man (Paul Maxey), who may well be a mob assassin. Not long before the train pulls into California, Brown is approached by small-time crook (Peter Brocco), who offers the detective a great deal of money if he'll permit Neall to be silenced. Brown appears to be tempted, but this is only a smokescreen to throw the crooks off the trail. The Narrow Margin was remade (and unnecessarily padded and attenuated) in 1990.
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79% (2) The Defiant Ones 96 min, Approved, [Crime, Drama] [Stanley Kramer] [27 Sep 1958]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 77%, Rotten Tomatoes: 81%, External Reviews
Awards: Won 2 Oscars. Another 12 wins & 21 nominations.
Actors: Charles McGraw, Sidney Poitier, Theodore Bikel, Tony Curtis
Writer: Nedrick Young, Harold Jacob Smith
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: When the truck that is transporting convicts has an accident on the road, the inmates John "Joker" Jackson and Noah Cullen that are chained to each other escape. They hate each other but they need to help each other to succeed in their intent of going north to jump in a train and reach freedom. Meanwhile the humane Sheriff Max Muller organizes a posse to track them down in a civilized manner and respecting justice. Joker and Cullen reach a small farm where a lonely woman helps them to get rid of their chains. She offers to drive her car with Joker and her son Billy while Cullen would escape through the swamp to the railroad. But when Joker learns that she sent Cullen to a trap, he leaves her and is shot in the shoulder by Billy. Joker seeks out Cullen to save him and when they meet each other, their former hatred has changed to friendship and respect.
Rotten Tomatoes: Convicts Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier escape from a chain gang. Curtis' character, John "Joker" Jackson, hates blacks, while Poitier's character, Noah Cullen, hates whites. However, the men are manacled together, forced to rely on each other to survive. Captured at one point by a lynch-happy mob, the convicts are rescued by Big Sam (Lon Chaney Jr.), himself a former convict. The men are later sheltered by a lonely, love-hungry widow played by Cara Williams, who offers to turn in Cullen if Joker will stay with her. By the time the two men are within hailing distance of a train that might take them to freedom, they have become friends. The script for The Defiant Ones is credited to Harold Jacob Smith and Nathan E. Douglas. The latter was really Nedrick Young, a blacklisted writer, whom producer Stanley Kramer hired knowing full well that Young was using an alias (when "Douglas"' credit appears onscreen, it is superimposed over a close-up of a truck driver -- played by Nedrick Young). Both the script and the photography by Sam Leavitt won Academy Awards. If you look closely, you'll notice that the actor playing Angus is former Little Rascal Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, making his last screen appearance. The Defiant Ones was remade for TV in 1986, with Robert Urich and Carl Weathers in the leads.
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70% (1) Armored Car Robbery 67 min, PASSED, [Crime, Film-Noir, Thriller] [Richard Fleischer] [08 Jun 1950]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 70%, External Reviews
Awards: 1 nomination.
Actors: Adele Jergens, Charles McGraw, Douglas Fowley, William Talman
Writer: Earl Felton (screenplay), Gerald Drayson Adams (screenplay), Robert Angus (suggested by a story by), Robert Leeds (suggested by a story by)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: Dave Purvis takes pride in being unknown to the law, though famed among fellow crooks as a planner He plots a holdup in meticulous detail; but things go wrong, a cop and two robbers are killed, and Purvis hides out with the money while Lieut. Cordell, friend of the dead cop, investigates. Purvis's new getaway plan shows promise, but may have one tiny flaw.
Rotten Tomatoes: Some auteur critics feel that director Richard O. Fleischer did his best work while laboring in the "B" mills of RKO Radio. Fleischer's minimalist noir exercise Armored Car Robbery stars William Talman as the chief crook and Charles McGraw as the detective dogging his trail. A shade smarter than his gang underlings, Talman manages to elude capture, and even travels freely about in the company of his flashy lady friend Adele Jergens. But McGraw's persistence eventually pays off. Don McGuire, later a prolific TV producer/director, provides a welcome touch of comic relief as McGraw's rookie-cop assistant. A powerful (and slightly gruesome) climax caps this low-budget gem.
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68% (1) Loophole 80 min, Approved, [Crime, Drama, Film-Noir, Thriller] [Harold D. Schuster] [28 Mar 1954]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 68%, External Reviews
Actors: Barry Sullivan, Charles McGraw, Don Haggerty, Dorothy Malone
Writer: Dwight V. Babcock (story), George Bricker (story), Warren Douglas (screenplay)
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: A bank teller attempts to clear his name and rebuild his career after he is wrongly accused of theft.
Rotten Tomatoes: This caper film stars Martin Sheen as Stephen Booker, an unemployed American architect in London who needs to jump-start his finances. Enter criminal mastermind Mike Daniels (Albert Finney), who gathers a group of thieves together to rob an impregnable London bank of millions by coming in through the sewers. Needing the money and the chance, Stephen, when offered, willingly joins the gang in their robbery attempt. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
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66% (1) Toward the Unknown 115 min, APPROVED, [Drama, History, Romance] [Mervyn LeRoy] [01 Oct 1956]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 66%, External Reviews
Actors: Charles McGraw, Lloyd Nolan, Virginia Leith, William Holden
Writer: Beirne Lay Jr.
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: USAF Major Lincoln Bond is captured, tortured and released from a POW camp in Korea. After the war he returns to the US where he is re-assigned as a test pilot at the Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base. The Air Force is testing the new experimental aircraft Gilbert XF-120 fighter. The acceptance of the new aircraft by the Air Force is dependent on successful tests designed to prove the aircraft's reliability and safety. However, when Major Bond flies the prototype he encounters a problem that points out a dangerous structural flaw. This could threaten the aircraft's acceptance by the Air Force and derail the whole project. Major Bond's commanding officer and some of his colleagues start to suspect that Major Bond is imagining things because of his mental condition dating back to his imprisonment and torture in the Korean POW camp.
Rotten Tomatoes: This high-flying thriller utilizes exciting footage of the USAF Thunderbirds in action--an interesting and authentic look into the world of Air Force test pilots. Set at Edwards Air Force base in California, the story centers on a dishonored pilot who is no longer allowed to fly. It seems that as a Korean POW he was brutally tortured and brainwashed until he could bear no more and he eventually cracked. Though it has been many years, he wants to clear his name and fly again. Unfortunately a general fears the pilot could again lose it during the testing of a highly experimental plan. Fortunately, the general's secretary is the former girl friend of the pilot and she convinces the general that he is rock solid. The pilot then sets out to prove it for himself. James Garner made his big screen debut in this film. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
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66% (1) Thunder Over the Plains 82 min, APPROVED, [Romance, War, Western] [André De Toth] [27 Oct 1953]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 66%, External Reviews
Actors: Charles McGraw, Lex Barker, Phyllis Kirk, Randolph Scott
Writer: Russell S. Hughes
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English Country: USA
Plot: It's 1869, Texas has not yet been readmitted to the Union, and carpetbaggers have taken over the state. Federal Captain Porter, a Texan, has to carry out orders against his own people. He brings in the rebel leader whom he knows is innocent of the murder for which he is charged. But in trying to prove his innocence, Porter now finds he is a wanted man.
Rotten Tomatoes: Randolph Scott is as strong and silent as ever in Thunder Over the Plains. The scene is Texas, in the years just following the Civil War. Carpetbaggers have taken hold of the Texas government and imposed a near-dictatorship, hiding behind the legal protection of the Union Army of Occupation. Though his heart belongs to Dixie, Captain David Porter (Scott) is honor-bound to uphold the law of the land, even though it protects criminals and persecutes the innocent. Eventually, Porter reveals his true feelings as he tries to clear Texas patriot Ben Westman (Charles McGraw) from a murder charge framed by villains Standish (Elisha Cook Jr.) and Balfour (Hugh Sanders). Meanwhile, caddish Captain Bill Hodges (Lex Barker) tries to make time with Porter's long-suffering wife Norah (Phyllis Kirk). Perhaps a bit too complicated storywise for western fans, Thunder Over the Plains is right to the point when it comes to the action highlights. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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59% (1) One Minute to Zero 105 min, APPROVED, [Drama, War] [Tay Garnett] [01 Aug 1952]Ratings & Reviews: IMDb Reviews: 59%, External Reviews
Actors: Ann Blyth, Charles McGraw, Robert Mitchum, William Talman
Writer: Milton Krims, William Wister Haines
External Links: Wikipedia Rotten Tomatoes IMDb Language: English, French Country: USA
Plot: Wartime drama about an idealistic young UN official (Ann Blyth) who finds out about the horrors of war when she falls in love with Colonel Steve Janowski (Robert Mitchum), the officer in charge of evacuating citizens from Korea.
Rotten Tomatoes: This Korean War drama is essentially a vehicle for RKO's top male star Robert Mitchum. He plays war-weary "Colonel Steve," obliged to contend with the North Korean forces while keeping troublesome UN official Linda Day (Ann Blyth) at arm's length. Some authentic Korean combat footage is well-integrated into the story. For all its talk about jet planes, Reds and atomic energy, the film is at base a redressed WW II drama. Good supporting performances are provided Charles McGraw as a tough sergeant and William Talman as a jet pilot. Reportedly budgeted at over two million dollars, One Minute to Zero had trouble making back its cost, despite the box-office pull of Robert Mitchum.
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